It’s only fitting that Whatever Brains contribute a record to Sorry State’s NC Single Series because, since the dissolution of Double Negative, Whatever Brains have become the veteran band on the circuit and de facto leaders of the scene (at least as far as many are concerned). The a-side track, “An Object,” is ostensibly about the phenomenon of “independent” “punk” bands hiring publicists, though I probably never would have known that if Rich hadn’t told me. What I’m more interested in is the song’s sweeping, almost triumphant synth melody, which shows just how much the Brains have grown as songwriters since their cacophonous early releases. (By the way, when I remarked that said synth melody sounded to me like the theme from The Love Boat, Rich replied that it was actually inspired by Gizmo’s song from Gremlins.) The b-side is a Lee Hazlewood cover built around chiming, reverb-drenched bell sounds and it goes places that no previous Whatever Brains track has gone. Limited to a one-time pressing of 300 copies. Volume 3 of Sorry State’s North Carolina Singles Series

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